APs and PAPs take note – more sections of the Building Safety Act 2022 now in force
Sections 79 – 88, 90 – 98, 101, 102 and 111 of the Building Safety Act 2022 (“the Act”) were brought into force on 16 January 2024 by the Building Safety Act 2022 (Commencement No.6) Regulations 2024.
These sections focus on the building management obligations imposed by Part 4 of the Act upon Accountable Persons (“APs”) and Principal Accountable Persons (“PAPs”) in occupied Higher-Risk Buildings, as well as residents’ duties in relation to building safety in these types of buildings.
Briefly, the main AP/PAP duties brought into force by these Regulations are:
- Sections 79 – 81 – a duty on the PAP to apply for a Building Assessment Certificate (which must include the building’s Safety Case Report) within 28 days of being directed to do so by the Building Safety Regulator (“the BSR”);
- Section 82 – a duty to display the Building Assessment Certificate, once received, in a ‘conspicuous position’ in the particular building;
- Sections 83 – 84 – a duty of the APs to assess building safety risks and take reasonable steps to manage those risks (including taking steps to prevent a building safety risk from materialising);
- Section 85 – 86 – the PAP must prepare and provide to the BSR a Safety Case Report as soon as reasonably practicable after the building becomes occupied or, if later, the time when the person becomes the PAP for the building. The Safety Case Report must contain any assessment of the building safety risks made pursuant to Section 83 and a brief description of any steps taken under Section 84. The Safety Case Report should be kept under review and updated whenever necessary;
- Section 87 and 88 – this section places a duty on the APs to keep and provide to the BSR prescribed information about the building. In addition the PAP must establish and operate an effective mandatory occurrence reporting system for the building;
- Section 90 – a duty upon any outgoing AP to ensure that prescribed information is given to the incoming AP as well as the BSR;
- Section 91 – a duty on the PAP to produce a residents’ engagement strategy for the building to promote participation in making building safety decisions.
Section 95 is also worth noting, as it imposes obligations on the occupants and owners of dwellings in HRBs not to act in a way that creates a significant risk of a building safety risk materialising and not to interfere (i.e. damage, remove or do anything that interferes with its intended function) with a relevant safety item.
By way of enforcement, and to give these newly in force duties some bite, sections 87 and 90 impose criminal sanctions on those APs who fail to comply with their duties in these areas and APs and the BSR can now, pursuant to Sections 96 and 99, give Contravention Notices and Compliance Notices where residents/owners and/or APs are found to have contravened or are contravening their duties.
Finally, the Higher-Risk Buildings (Keeping and Provision of Information etc.) (England) Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/41) also came into force on 16 January 2024. These Regulations specify the “golden thread” of information and documentation that APs must keep and share with those who have an interest in relation to an HRB.
If you require any further information or assistance with the above, or anything else in relation building safety, then please contact Forsters’ Building Safety Team.
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